JOHN

See also:

• BARCLAY, ALEXANDER (c. 1476-1552)
• BARCLAY, JOHN (1582-1621)
• JOHN BARCLAY (1734-1798)
• BARCLAY, R
• BARCLAY, ROBERT (1648-1690)
• BARCLAY, WILLIAM (1546–1608)

BARCLAY (1734-1798)  , Scottish divine, was born in Perthshire and died at Edinburgh . He graduated at St Andrews, and after being licensed became assistant to the parish minister of Errol in Perthshire . Owing to differences with the minister, he left in 1763 and was appointed assistant to Antony Dow of Fettercairn, Kincardine . In this parish he became very popular, but his opinions failed to give satisfaction to his presbytery . In 1772 he was rejected as successor to Dow, and was even refused by the presbytery 'the testimonials requisite in order to obtain another living . The refusal of the presbytery was sustained by the General Assembly, and Barclay thereupon left the Scottish church and founded congregations at Sauchyburn, Edinburgh and London . His followers were sometimes called Bereans, because they regulated their conduct by a diligent study of the Scriptures (Acts xvii . 11) . They hold a modified form of Calvinism . His works, which include many hymns and paraphrases of the psalms, and a book called Without Faith, without God, were edited by J . Thomson and D . Macmillan, with a memoir (1852) .